JENOVA
by Bojack727
Summary: A team of researchers discover an alien corpse in the snow- but now all must fight for their lives as the alien revives, takes human form, and spreads terror! Can anyone stop Jenova, or will the entire world become its nightmare? Please R & R! (Ch 6 Up!)
1. Prologue

JENOVA  
  
It is coming for us.  
  
***  
  
A team of men station in an isolated research facility in the northern continent have unearthed the corpse of an alien that fell from the sky over 150,000 years ago. But once unthawed, the alien comes back to life and assumes a human form.  
  
Trapped in the snow with a hostile, shape shifting alien life form. the team succumbs to paranoia and fear and soon turns against one another in a violent struggle for dominance that will cast a lingering shadow of doubt on all who behold the nightmare.  
  
Staring Cid Highwind, Tseng, Hojo, Dyne, Biggs and Wedge and others in a thrilling tale of terror, isolation, and psychological warfare.  
  
***  
  
Because Man is the Warmest Place to Hide 


	2. Chapter 01

Chapter 01  
The air was thick with the smell of machine oil and grease and the only sound was the continual humming of the station's generator. The thick, musky smell of the camp was indicative of the men working the camp and maintaining the functions and daily routines.  
  
The whole structure, beeped, clicked, hummed, and glowed with the life of an entire teem of highly trained researchers, inventors, workers, and other skilled men. This camp- "The Big Magnet"- was the living reflection of those who staffed it and kept it in good running condition, like any other well-oiled machine.  
  
The station stuck out of the middle of a great plot of white ice and snow, like a frozen knoll in the middle of winter. A person could spend a whole day outside and never see anything different happen the whole time.  
  
Everything was the same; the long, flat fields of pure white and then snow- covered mountains beyond that; the sky was a dull gray color. The sun was impossible to see in a place as gray as this, when the winter snow fall starts.  
  
***  
  
Cid dropped a couple of ice cubes into the glass and poured himself a drink of bourbon, good old J&B. The pilot was busy playing chess on the computer in front of him, but when the computer announced its next move and that he had lost, he reached over and pulled the plug on it. "Damn cheating machine." Cid swore to himself and he turned around in the swivel chair he was in. He leaned back and sighed as he waited in his shack, bored out of his mind.  
  
The room was dimly lit by lamps and the walls were adorned by various posters of tropical beaches and women in bathing suits. That was the kind of life that Cid longed for. The pay was good out here, but he'd rather be working in Costa Del Sol, surrounded by sun an iced tea. not to mention some damn women!  
  
Cid held up the letter he had received from the plane that had come almost ten weeks earlier, before the weather got real bed, it was from someone he knew, back home. The letter was important to him, the person who wrote it was even more important, someone back where he was from. his home town on the other side of the world, thousands of miles away. Cid sighed as he put the letter back in its drawer and locked it with the key.  
  
Locks, everyone needs locks.  
  
***  
  
Hozloff looked up from his cards, at the other players, Wedge and Dyne were busy arranging their hands. Hozloff looked down at the two of them; heavy- set wedge in his turtle-neck sweater with his short curly hair and the tall, broad-shouldered Dyne with his short black hair and dark eyes.  
  
Hozloff was in charge of the Station, and he had to maintain the manners and dignity that his position demanded, his presence had to demand respect right away, buthe also believed that how well he could play a good game of cards and how well his poker face was also decided on just how much the men respected him as their leader.  
  
Hojo and Dr. Mideal were busy playing ping pong and the "clip-clop" of the plastic ball was audible as they went on. Hojo managed to send the ball flying past Mideal without him expecting it.  
  
Mideal picked the ball up off the floor and walked back over to the table. "It's my turn to serve this time." He said as he tossed the ball onto the table and hit it with the paddle.  
  
"Clip-Clop"  
  
Biggs and Zangan were playing pool at the billiard table while the "bar light" shined down on them; Zangan's massive form dwarfing the skinny form of Biggs- the small brown haired cook.  
  
Other members of the team were in the room, enjoying some time off from their research and some where elsewhere, maybe working. Some men were always working at one time or another.  
  
None of them expected the sound of the explosion outside!  
  
***  
  
Cid jumped and looked around groggily, what the hell was that noise?  
  
Just then, the door to his shack swung open and Cid found himself staring at the face of Dr. Mideal; the Doctor's beard was visible through the drawn hood of his parka. Cid looked up at the fully covered Mideal. "What's up?" He asked.  
  
"Damnit Cid, stop trying to get drunk and get out there!" He commanded and then slipped back out the door.  
  
***  
  
Reeve, the computer technician, placed his books down onto his desk to go see what was happening outside. Everyone was up in arms about something, something that was going on outside. He reached over to retrieve his coat from a hook on the wall next to him. It was always something.  
  
***  
  
Dr. Mideal tramped down the steps from Cid's shack and made his way back into the snow.  
  
Several of the other team members had gathered outside; Dyne and Wedge were standing in the snow, looking at the helicopter that was flying towards the camp.  
  
The two men looked up to see Mideal come running up towards them.  
  
"Hey, Doc, where's Cid?" Asked Dyne.  
  
"He's coming. What's going on?" Dr. Mideal replied.  
  
"Don't know." Dyne replied to the Physician in front of him.  
  
Tseng (the Senior Mechanic) and Coats (the jive-talking Radio Operator) came running outside in confusion, Zangan behind them- not wearing his coat.  
  
Cid flew out of his shack and practically blasted down the stepped, still holding his bourbon.  
  
By now, everyone could see that the helicopter was after a sled dog. One of the men in it was dropping grenades down at it.  
  
The husky ran up to Dyne and hopped up and leaned against him, panting and whining nervously. Dyne looked up at the helicopter in confusion at the chopper.  
  
The helicopter landed in the snow and the two men got out of it, the man carrying a rifle went running after the dog, while the pilot fumbled to get another grenade out of the case. But, when he reached down to get it and then pulled the pin out, but as he was getting ready to throw it, he dropped into the snow.  
  
Cid looked on as the helicopter and the pilot was blown away by an explosion. "What the hell?!" He exclaimed as he pulled a jacked over his upper body, which was only covered by his long underwear.  
  
Everyone watched as the helicopter was burning.  
  
***  
  
Hozloff was looking out the window of the station at what was going on, he didn't like the way things were going, he reached down for the .38 caliber revolver at his side.  
  
*** The man came running up to the group of people; Cid, Wedge, Dyne, Tseng, Coats, and some other men.  
  
He called out something, but they couldn't understand the language. Still, the man's tone of voice related one thing that was very clear- something was wrong!  
  
The strange man then lost patience with the group of scientists and started firing at them.  
  
Cid and Wedge dived out of the way, into the snow as the bullets flew by, Wedge's large form leaving a deeper imprint in the snow as they dropped into it.  
  
But, then, the man fired another shot, and that one hit Dyne in the leg. The others stepped back as Dyne fell to the ground and the dog went running from him.  
  
The stranger flew through the group of people- who were afraid to try and approach him. Something had to be done! The man went on running after the husky, but went flying back when another shot was heard from the other direction.  
  
***  
  
Hozloff Placed his gun back into the holster at his side and then grabbed his coat and ski cap to join the others outside, leaving Reno and Biggs to look through the window that he had just broken open to shoot out of.  
  
***  
  
Dyne was lying in the snow, holding the side of his right thigh and cringing. He looked up to see Cid come running, his open jacket flapping as he ran and his bottle of bourbon in hand.  
  
Cid kneeled down next to him. "Dyne, are you okay?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine." He replied without looking up.  
  
Cid stuck the bottle in Dyne's hand and ran off to go check on the other.  
  
Dyne looked at the open bottle and took a quick swig from the bottle of J&B.  
  
Some of the other men ran to go put out the burning remains of the helicopter while Zangan watched the dog walk up to him and stop. Zangan started petting the dog as he watched the others try and put the chopper out.  
  
In this way, Hozloff had emerged from a large group of men had displayed his brass as the true leader of the group. He showed his power to rise up to the occasion and do what had to be done. To do what he must do to follow his duty as the camps Station Commander. It was Hozloff's job to hold order and calmness to the camp.  
  
He really was the embodiment of a strong leader, the Old Soldier- unwavering dignity and determination, like a knight with his revolver- the object that symbolized his proverbial sword- at his side.  
  
He had done what he had to do, and no one would ever question the necessity to cut the man down with quick efficiency. He did what he had to do.  
  
Hozloff was watching as Cid and the others stepped back to let the others put out the fire.  
  
Everyone stood there in disbelief, the burning remains of the helicopter lay before them as smoke rose up from it. Cid looked at it and frowned. "The first goddamned week of winter!" The pilot exclaimed in irritation at the mess that had just unfolded before them all in astoundingly absurd realism.  
  
And so, in minutes, the calm of winter had been destroyed. A peace and quiet that took weeks, if not months, to create had been destroyed in just minutes and it was uncertain how soon it would return to them.  
  
The group of some twenty-two men, this was the thing that none of them could have ever predicted would happen. It was an event out of novels and stories, a freakish event that was too unreal for words to explain, it even baffled human thought to a great extent.  
  
Zangan stood by the dog as they both watched the scene, both thinking about all that had happened.  
  
Separated from the rest of the team, both in location and in thought, Hojo- the tall, thin biologist- stood there, calculating and formulating thoughts and theories that only his startlingly adaptive and logical mind could think of.  
  
Hojo was thinking, and pondering, his mind was at work going over the events that had just occurred. This was by all means- a bad omen!  
~End of Chapter 01~  
  
Please send me some reviews and let me know what you think, I'm eager to know what you all think of this.  
  
Later,  
  
Bojack 


	3. Chapter 02

Chapter 02  
Everyone was gathered around the flaming wreckage of the helicopter, looking on as Rude and some of the other men put out the fire with extinguishers- blasting the yellow flames with streams of concentrated CO2 from the red canisters.  
  
Some of the other men were busy picking up the body of the man who Hozloff had shot earlier- the bullet hole in his snow goggles was plane to see.  
  
Zangan led the dog inside without saying a word to the others.  
  
Hozloff looked at the helicopter and frowned. "It doesn't make sense." He remarked as he surveyed the shell of the helicopter in front of them all.  
  
"None of it does." Cid added.  
  
***  
  
Everyone had hustled back inside to get away from the biting cold of the North Continent's Weather.  
  
"Oh now, come on, it only grazed you, you're lucky, you only get four stitches." Mideal reasoned to Dyne, practicing his good bead-side manner as he mended the small wound on the Meteorologist's leg. He carefully tied down the end of the surgical thread and cutting it close enough to not catch on anything. "There, you see, not so bad." Came the statement, voiced in Mideal's pleasant country accent.  
  
"It still hurts though." Dyne complained, but did not get anymore of a response from Mideal as he put his things away.  
  
"Now let's go, I have to go do an autopsy on that man." He said to Dyne, helping him off the table.  
  
Dyne pulled his pants back up over the surgical stitches- courtesy of the good doctor's handy work- and limped after him.  
  
***  
  
Hozloff had gone back inside the station, designating some of the men to pick up the corpses and bring them back inside the camp for autopsy.  
  
Reno placed the cigarette back in his mouth as he and one of the other men picked up the man that Hozloff had shot in the eye. Reno frowned as they hoisted him up and then set him down on a fold-out stretcher.  
  
Rude and Dutton were standing over the burned up body of the other man, waiting for the corpse to cool off before they touched it.  
  
Dutton looked down at the corpse. "There's no way in hell that we get anything from this guy." He complained.  
  
Rude just nodded and waited with Dutton for the body to cool off- which wouldn't be long in this cold weather.  
  
"I'll move this thing when I'm good and ready.  
  
***  
  
Hozloff pulled the medical shroud off of the head of the man, revealing his grim, but efficient handy work. The man's left eye socket was blown out. Upon inspection- the man had dark hair and pale skin, he looked be Asian.  
  
"I'm just glad the 'big chief' got a chance to use his 'popgun'." Said Reno sarcastically. Hozloff looked at him with disapproval as the Assistant mechanic sat in his a chair lighting his "habit" for a smoke.  
  
"Looks like he's from Wutai." Said Wedge, from the crowd of men in the room.  
  
"I think he is, can you see if you can read this, Tseng?" Hozloff asked the man, while looking at the man's dog tag.  
  
Tseng stepped forward, it was pretty well know that he Wutai clan blood in him, but it wasn't certain if he could read the writing. An unrecognizable expression was on his tanned face, which was visible between the long, fine raven hair that hung down around it. "Don't assume that I can read that, but you're lucky that I can read some." He said, stepping forward and looking down at the name on the tag. "Hakido Sansuke." He said after reading it.  
  
Hozloff turned to Mideal and Hojo- who had his assistant, Gast, with him. "Have any of you learned anything from the bodies?" He asked them.  
  
"The man shows no physical signs of stress to cause something like this, physically, he's healthy." Mideal replied. "Nothing to indicate that the body was experiencing anything out of the ordinary, the signs only show that he'd experienced a substantial adrenaline surge in the last few hours." He paused and turned to look at the other body. "As for his 'friend', I'd be damned if I could tell you anything from him." Mideal announced professionally to the group of men. The grotesque body laying their- its clothes fused to blackened flesh and dried blood.  
  
"He's a goddamned piece of charcoal now." Quade- one of the dogsled drivers- exclaimed as he looked at the darkened husk.  
  
A few of the men chuckled at the brash comment from the Black man.  
  
"We can't answer for sure with the other body, but I'd have to agree with Mideal." Gast added.  
  
Hojo, the team's Senior Biologist, nodded silently in agreement with his assistant.  
  
It was easy to see that these two existed in a totally different zone of thought then the rest of the team did. They were constantly thinking and working things out and communicating with nods and facial expressions between one another that was sort of like their special way of talking to one another without letting the others into what they were thinking of. It wasn't hard to assume that they had long ago formed their own little think- tank.  
  
"Did they just go crazy?" Asked Rude- one of the physicists on the team. Cid tended to like the quiet man, he was good guy and a good chess partner.  
  
"It's just the first week of winter, how could anyone go crazy that fast?" Exclaimed Jackson- one of the dogsled drivers.  
  
"It takes at least 10 weeks to succumb to such an advanced psychosis, like going stir crazy." Mideal explained, trying to reason to the group.  
  
"Ha," Exclaimed Biggs, the young chef. "All it takes is an hour out here to drive some people crazy. Look at Reno, he was nuts before we got here." Biggs remarked flippantly to his audience.  
  
Reno made a rude gesture with his hand as he leaned back in his seat as he portrayed a smile of sarcasm.  
  
"That's enough from you, Biggs." Hozloff instructed the cook, trying to maintain unity amongst the team.  
  
Some of the people in the room laughed a little, but Cid remained silent as he stood back in the crowd.  
  
Biggs did as he was told and got quiet again. The young man sat back down on the counter in the lab.  
  
"Biggs may be partially right, when it come to this continent, all bets are off. We're playing in a totally different world then what we know of. the Cold and the wind can do things to a man. strange things." Wedge said solemnly.  
  
"It may be possible if the men were suffering from a sort of shock. but it's a long shot." Mideal stated.  
  
"This situation is very wrong, there's something more to this. I know it." Cid put in. The others looked at him; they hadn't heard him say anything until just now. It now seemed that Cid's comment had left him with the 'floor', so to speak.  
  
"You may be right, Cid, but I want to go check out the Wutai camp." Hozloff remarked. He then turned to one of the other men in the room. "Halls, go check out the land graphs and archives, I want to know the coordinates of the camp." He said to a thin, pale man in the front.  
  
"Right." Halls replied.  
  
Reno sat up. "Hey, Hozloff, I'll take you to the sight." Offered the Mechanic  
  
"You stay here, I'll go." Cid inserted.  
  
"It would be better for Cid to do it." Hozloff stated.  
  
"What the hell?" Reno exclaimed in a pissed off tone after being rejected by both men.  
  
"You aren't licensed as a pilot; the weather's too bad for an amateur to go out in." Cid stated as he sat down on one of the counter tops behind him and lit a cigarette.  
  
"Yeah- yeah, thanks for thanking it over, guys." Reno replied as he walked out of the room.  
  
Hozloff turned around, after watching the man leave, to face the pilot. "Cid, get the Helicopter ready to go to the Wutai camp when we know where it is." Hozloff instructed him.  
  
Cid nodded in response.  
  
Halls came back quickly. "Hozloff, here's the location, the computer also told me that there are ten people in their teem.  
  
"Then that means that there might still be eight people alive." Hozloff replied.  
  
"Not necessarily, Mike," Mideal inserted, speaking to Hozloff. "Guys like this could have done a lot of damage to their own people." He added.  
  
"Still, I want to go check." Hozloff announced to the men in the room. "It wouldn't be right to just leave the situation as it is." He said, showing his sympathy for the Wutai Camp.  
  
It was accepted that they would have to do something about the situation and the gathering of men nodded quietly in agreement with their leader.  
  
***  
  
Cid, Wedge, and Reno looked down at the charred remains of the helicopter. Cid turned back around to face Reno and the others who were there. "I count seven cans of kerosene in here. god, what were they planning." Cid commented.  
  
Hozloff shouted from a distance. "Cid, go get the chopper started."  
  
Cid sighed and went to go turn on the chopper. He looked over to see a small group of men approaching him. The first was Hozloff, carrying a short barrel 12-gaug shotgun; then there was Tseng, with his dark hair pulled into a ponytail and tucked back into his parka; there was also Dr. Mideal, carrying his medical kit with him, and another man, Henson.  
  
Hozloff walked up and handed Cid the shotgun. "Take this Cid, we don't know how the Wutai researchers will react." He said as he offered the weapon to the pilot.  
  
Cid pulled down his ridiculously incongruous sombrero and looked over at Mideal. "You sure you want to come, Doc?" He asked.  
  
"It's my duty as a Doctor to help people when ever I can." Mideal replied proudly.  
  
"You really want to save those crazy Gogongans, huh?" He asked.  
  
"Wutais, Cid, they're from Wutai." Mideal replied correcting Cid's mistake.  
  
The pilot just shrugged and watched as everyone got into the helicopter.  
  
All of the men hopped in; Hozloff next to Cid, and Tseng, Mideal, and Henson in the back.  
  
Hozloff looked over at Cid and noticed the sombrero. "Do you have to wear that thing, Cid?" Asked the Station Manager.  
  
Cid just grinned and pulled up the throttle to take off. "Ven conmigo hombres." Cid said with a smile. He reached down and flipped a series of switches and pulled back on the throttle. The helicopter began to slowly rise off the ground, but soon began picking up speed until it was airborne and turning around to take off towards the Wutai camp.  
  
The chopper flew off into endless white horizon.  
  
*** Hozloff pointed towards the horizon from his seat in the cockpit of the helicopter. "Cid, look." He exclaimed.  
  
Cid looked over to see smoke rising from far off in the distance.  
  
"That must be it." Mideal remarked from the back.  
  
"Take us down, Cid."  
  
Cid nodded and turned the helicopter down towards the site.  
~End of Chapter 2~  
  
Well, please tell what you all think of this story. Ideas are always welcome.  
  
Thanks,  
  
-Bojack 


	4. Chapter 03

Chapter 03  
  
The wind howled madly throughout the burned remains of the Camp, smoke stacks rose up everywhere, burned broken walls jutted out of the desolate foundations.  
  
The group stepped out of the helicopter, except for Henson. Hozloff turned to him and instructed him to remain in the helicopter in case something went wrong while the rest of them went off to investigate the camp. Cid and the others looked around. The camp was in ruins, week fires burned in a few places and smoke rose up in great pillars all over the place. The remaining walls were burned and scorched by unknown forces.  
  
The wind passed through cracks and blast holes and made noises like the shrill howls of maddened wolves. The places also reeked with a stale odor, almost like rotting flesh; it was as if the camp itself was dead. Cid held the shotgun close his body, suddenly feeling vulnerable.  
  
Hozloff looked around. "What the hell happened here?" He asked the other three men, looking between them. "Looks like they were at war." Mideal remarked as he looked around. Cid looked at the Doctor. "Yeah, but who were they at war with." He retorted as he looked at the burnt wreckage.  
  
Tseng walked up to Cid. "I don't like this," He began. "This entire mission is very bad; I don't expect to find any survivors." The mechanic stated matter-of-factly. "Yeah, I've got a bad feeling about this too." The pilot replied.  
  
"Come on, lets go on in and check it out." Hozloff interjected, suddenly. "Tseng will come with me." He announced and then turned to their pilot. "Cid, you go with Mideal in through the front while the two of us go in through the back." Hozloff informed him.  
  
So, the four of them split up and went in to check out the camp.  
  
He had seen this coming, so it was no problem for him to wait by himself inside the chopper.  
  
Henson pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a match that he struck across his boot. He looked out into the snow fields. For a moment he though that he saw something. but then he didn't se anything. probably just the wind.  
  
***  
  
Cid and Dr. Mideal walked up to the front door of the station and found that it was busted- the handle and lock were blasted off by some kind of firearm. Cid leaned into the door, and pushed it open. He looked over at Mideal, who gave an uncertain expression in return.  
  
"I think it would be best if I lead the way, Doc." Cid suggested in a serious tone, after reading the expression on the Doctor's face. Mideal just nodded and waited for him to go on in and then followed behind.  
  
***  
  
Cid stepped into the hallway; he could hear the wind blowing down through the corridors. He stepped forward, gripped the shotgun, and spoke. "Hey, Gogonga!" He exclaimed. "Wutai, Cid." Mideal corrected as he immerged through the doorway behind him. Cid nodded mechanically, not really sure if he'd remember to say it right next time.  
  
The two men slowly walked down through the hall- Cid leading. The howl of the wind echoed throughout the corridor through a gaping whole in the ceiling. Long dead fluorescent lights hung jaggedly from the roof like vines. They stopped when they came up to a fire axe lodged in a door halfway down the hall. Cid grabbed hold of the instrument and tried to remove it, but the effort proved futile as the axe was practically "fused" to the door by the thick layer of ash-infused ice. The fact that the doorknob had been chopped off didn't help either; so, Cid took hold of the iced axe handle and pulled the door open with it, instead.  
  
***  
  
The Pilot and the Doctor stepped into a large room. Much like the rest of the complex, the power was out, so the room was very dark now, interrupted only by the pools of light coming from the various holes in the walls and ceilings.  
  
The lands here were harsh, even now; icicles were forming on the jagged openings.  
  
Mideal's boot stopped suddenly, making a soft "crunch" in the frosted iced that covered the floor. The Doctor looked down slowly onto the floor and something caught his eye- something that was dark red, and deep. He quickly realized that the spot snaked off into a trail going off to the right of where he stood. He followed the trail of red with his eyes and something that caught him off guard. The flat trail suddenly changed into a crimson-colored icicle that led up to a wrist. Mideal traced a path up the blue wrist up to see a frozen corpse of a man, sitting with his back to him. The man's wrist's had been slit. and so had his throat, and the other hand held onto an old fashioned shaving razor- also bloody. The Doctor backed up. "Cid!" He exclaimed. "Hey Cid, come look at this!" He called out nervously.  
  
The pilot walked up beside Mideal and looked at the corpse with him. The Doctor shined his flashlight at it. "This is bad Cid, what you think could have happened to these people?" He asked.  
  
"Is it Suicide?" Asked Cid, looking at the wrists.  
  
"Well, it looks like that was one of thing that happened to the man." He began. "But, this; look at this, Cid." He said, pointing to the deep cut across the throat. "If he did cut his own wrists for some reason, then it seems that someone else decided to help him along." Mideal announced as he looked at the body.  
  
Cid looked at the corpse uneasily, but the thing that really got to him was the man's expression. His face was literally frozen into a mask of howling fear and terror; it seemed that the elements would not even allow him the dignity of a dead man as he sat there, his eyes wide open and his mouth stuck in a screaming position. "Doc, why do I get the feeling that we've walked into a tomb rather then a station?" Cid asked.  
  
Mideal looked back at him. "More like a graveyard." He replied grimly.  
  
"What the hell could have happened here to make these turn against one anther? These were all intelligent and logical people, what could have happened?" Exclaimed Mideal.  
  
The Pilot placed his hand on the Doctor's Shoulder. "Somehow, I don't think we want to know the answer." Cid remarked, out loud.  
  
The two men began looking around for anything else that might shed some light on what had happened. They quickly split up again to cover more ground.  
  
Mideal was looking around the place when he spotted a bookshelf with several things lying on top of it. Mideal made his way over to the shelf and finds several folders filled with reports written in Wutai-script. There were also some video tapes and rolled up charts. The tapes were labels in Wutai, so the Doctor had no chance of understanding them.  
  
Just then, Cid called for him to come see something. Mideal tucked the folders into his jacket and zipped it up all the way, he decided to make sure to get a case to bring the tapes back with them to their camp.  
  
He turned around and began walking towards where Cid was. Mideal looked forward and saw that he was standing beyond a doorway, and icicles were hanging down from the empty frame. Strangely, it reminded him of the gaping maw of some great horror of days gone past. A terrible mouth with a jaw of ridged icicles for wickedly spiked teeth. The image sent a chill down his spine. It seemed like some kind of terrible premonition.  
  
However, with some reluctance, he walked into the 'mouth of madness'.  
  
***  
  
Cid glared down pensively at the object in front of him when Mideal walked in to join him. It was a block of ice, but it wasn't solid, the inside was completely hollowed out, making it look more like a bathtub. It was large, too, at least eight feet long and three feet high and it looked to be about four and a half feet wide.  
  
"What do you make of it, Doc?" Cid asked the Doctor as he stood beside him.  
  
"I don't know Cid, I don't know." The Doctor replied to the man's question.  
  
***  
  
Hozloff and Tseng looked down into the snow at the form in front of them. He turned around to see Cid and Dr. Mideal come running up to join them.  
  
The four of them huddled together and looked down at the 'thing' in the snow. Amazingly, the four men were at a complete loss for words.  
  
It was Mideal who finally broke the silence. He looked down at it and frowned. "Is that a person in there, somewhere?" He asked the group in disgust, hoping for some kind of answer.  
  
"This one is coming back with us." Hozloff announced to the other three men. He then turned to Cid and Mideal. "Did you find any survivors?" He asked them grimly.  
  
Cid shook his head to gesture "no" and frowned. "None, just a corpse." Cid replied.  
  
Tseng frowned. "Yeah, we only found corpses as well." He replied.  
  
"This place is a graveyard," Hozloff commented. "There's no more reason for us to hang around here." The Commander added, resigning himself to the depressing situation. He then turned to Cid. "Go get Henson and have him bring a tarp to move this 'thing'." He instructed the pilot.  
  
Cid nodded and broke out into a sprint towards the helicopter, disappearing into the distance.  
  
***  
  
Henson looked over his shoulder as the door slid open. "Cid, your back." He remarked as he watched the man climb in.  
  
Cid looked over at Henson. The short, red-haired man frowned, moving his beard along with the lines on his face.  
  
The Pilot then spoke. "Henson, get out one of those heavy canvas blankets and come with me." he instructed him.  
  
Henson nodded. "Right, Cid." He replied as he put out his cigarette and got up.  
  
*** 


	5. Chapter 04

JENOVA  
  
Chapter 04  
  
Several men had gathered together outside the next morning to watch the Helicopter land. The craft carefully touched down in the snow and the engine was cut- causing the propellers to gradually slow down.  
  
Then, the door to the cockpit opened and Cid and Hozloff hopped out. They ran and pulled open the doors to the passenger chamber and climbed in.  
  
The next thing that happened was the sight of Cid, Henson, Hozloff, and Tseng emerging from the chamber carrying a large object- six feet wide and over seven feet long- that was rapped up in a couple of blankets. The four of them began running towards the entrance with the rapped up load in their care. Mideal followed behind them, carrying two suitcases with him.  
  
The breaths were visible on the men as they ran through the wind and tramped through the snow.  
  
***  
  
Wedge turned to the others. "Hey, clear out of their way, get that door open!" He shouted to them.  
  
The men nodded and stepped back. One of them pulled open the door for the Commander and the other four to get through.  
  
Reno looked at Wedge. "What the hell do you think they had in that thing?" He asked the man.  
  
Wedge looked at him. "I have no idea." He replied.  
  
***  
  
Everyone gathered into the large briefing room, where the Commander and the others had set down their large bundle, to see what Hozloff and the others had brought back with them. The men were definitely eager to see what was underneath the heavy canvas thermal blankets.  
  
Commander Hozloff looked about the room and counted all of the faces looking back at him in silence, he then determined that all twenty-two members of the researchers were there, including Cid and himself, and Wedge (who was standing off to the left.)  
  
"I have called you all here- all twenty-five of you- because I believe that what we have found concerns all of you." The Station Commander began. "We found something quite extraordinary when we went to go investigate the Wutai Camp." Hozloff informed them all calmly. He then turned to Cid. "Tell them about the other station we found." Hozloff instructed the pilot.  
  
Cid stepped forward; the pilot was tall and his blond hair was held back by a pair of flight goggles, a cigarette hung in his mouth, the tanned skin on his face was visible as he spoke. "I flew the helicopter, but when we got there, our worst fears were confirmed. All that was left was the charred remains of the station, just a burning husk." He told them.  
  
"The station was still smoking, so it must have been destroyed recently." Hozloff added. "After Cid brought us down, we set out to investigate the station." He went on.  
  
"What did you find?" Asked one of the men in the crowd.  
  
Hozloff looked for the source of the voice and saw that it came from the Meteorologist, Dyne. The dark hair, broad shouldered man was sitting on a stool and looking pensive.  
  
"I'm getting to that." Hozloff replied. "As Doctor Mideal theorized, there were no survivors. Everyone was dead. We found a few corpses. The Wutai body count now stands at least at five confirmed dead and I doubt that the state of the place that anything could still be alive." He finished.  
  
The men became quiet. Cid and other three men offered no argument with the statement.  
  
Mideal spoke up in a sad tone. "It's hard for me to recall the state of the camp, it was torn apart. There were holes in the walls and ceiling and icicles were hanging all over the place." He said to the crowd as he elaborated on the situation. "It was like a graveyard." He then added before he became quiet again.  
  
By this point, Hojo had emerged from the crowd, stepping forward for a better look at what was beneath the covers. Gast quickly appeared at his side.  
  
Hozloff then cleared his throat and waited for them to quiet down so he was sure that everyone was paying attention and went on. "And now, gentlemen, I present you with the thing that you have most likely all been waiting for." He said as he turned around to the mound of blankets. He exchanged a look with Cid, Tseng, and Henson, who stepped forward in response. The four men circled around the bundle and grabbed hold them and began pulling them back.  
  
Everyone in the room watched as the four men took hold of the blankets and began peeling back the layers.  
  
Everyone gasped as they finished pulling the covers back, revealing what was underneath it.  
  
~~~  
  
The thing under the covers was, to their astonishment, humanoid in appearance, though it was a push to make a strong reference to it as being anything too much like a person. It had orange skin that looked like sunburned flesh, but the skin was still very smooth and supple.  
  
Its body was actually somewhat feminine looking, with a narrow waist and wide hips; it had long legs- muscular and firm like a dancer's- and its feet were ironically. physically perfect with a good arch to them. However, the feminine curves were abruptly interrupted by what appeared to be extra appendages and partial exoskeletons and even hard spikes protruding from the body.  
  
Then there was the face- The skin covered the mouth like a thing membrane that was slightly darker to show that the covered lips were parted open. There were two large placid eyes that were a foggy blue opal color, and a third eye on the forehead that matched the two others. All eyes were slightly narrowed as if to show an expression of malice and irritation. Dark, wide stripes came down from the bottom eyelids to the fringe of the jaw and then from the top of the eye lids to just below the scalp- reminiscent of a cheetah. Small spots came up from the backs of the jaw, the outer edge of the face and up along the forehead before the hairline. In place of actual hair were large, dark green dreadlock-like tentacles that came down past its round hips. A much larger, orange tentacle hung down on either side of the neck, coming down a few inches past the collar- bone. Two horns projected from the forehead, above the third eye, and curved to stick upward at just a slight angle. And finally, it had long slender, elf-like ears.  
  
An arm with a praying mantis claw came from the back on the left shoulder blade and stuck upward. A strange scaled appendage came from between the right shoulder and the neck. The end of it had a pronged mouth and several multi-colored insect eyes.  
  
The left shoulder was replaced by a red blob covered by large, thick pink veins. Three insect-like legs with hooked and barbed tips stuck out of the blob. The left arm was a massive appendage of bulging brown muscle with raiser-sharp claw-shaped bones sticking out in place of fingers. Some of the veins had lassoed themselves around the right breast- which was devoid of any sign of a nipple or some sort of mammary gland.  
  
The right arm matched the rest of the body, but the right shoulder was replaced with a hard gray exoskeleton-like shell with a large, spherical red pearl-like object. There was also a second right arm that was covered in smooth purple-gray skin and capped off at the end with long narrow fingers. Several sickly green tentacles hung out from the hard gray mass.  
  
Yet, the final and most disturbing thing was that the left breast was replaced by a huge gaping jaw lined with cruel-looking teeth. The mouth was covered by a thick, brown leathery skin that covered the left side of the torso and down across the main body's groin- giving it some level of modesty- until it came to the right hip where it caused spikes to jut out suddenly. The strange thing was that the giant mouth seemed to almost have been trying to escape from the main body when it was frozen into its living death.  
  
The concept of hybrid organisms was no new idea; but this. this was no hybrid, this was no even mix of different organism's DNA; this was a walking personification of chaos and disorder, it was as if the all the different appendages were forced together in some sick collage and that the orange main body had only just won the battle for dominance through what appeared to vary violent means. it was, as it seamed to the men, "Genetic Chaos"!  
  
It could only be guessed as to how horribly gruesome and obscenely cruel the orange creature must have been to have defeated the other (much more fierce-looking) animals that were now permanently attached to it.  
  
~~~  
  
Everyone stood there starring at the form in front of them. Some of them had to look away. Some had to take a step back. One of the men, Kennings, looked as id he was going to vomit.  
  
Hojo placed his hand over his mouth and said nothing as he looked at the creature. Gast looked down at it in disbelief.  
  
Everyone had gotten the answer they were waiting for, they had seen what was under the covers, and now they weren't so sure if they had made the right decision.  
  
Hozloff looked over at the Biologist. "Hojo, I want you to begin an autopsy as soon as this is this thing is carted into the lab." Instructed the Commander.  
  
Hojo nodded and left the room to go think.  
  
Biggs couldn't help but notice that the fingers on the 'normal hand' were a much lighter color and that the skin between the stripes on the face was a much lighter color as well. just like his. cat back home.  
  
***  
  
Hojo looked at the clean scalpel. He liked everything to be the way it should be: nice and orderly, and clean!  
  
Hozloff, Cid, Wedge, Tseng, Dr. Mideal, and some of the other men were standing in the room with Hojo and Gast. They were watching to see what might be learned from the corpse.  
  
"The thing is evil." Remarked Wedge. "Like something out of a nightmare." He remarked unhappily.  
  
"Really, now, Wedge, I'm surprised in you, you're a scientist. You shouldn't be emotionally unstable." Mideal replied.  
  
"Wedge is right, that thing is wicked, I sat next to it in the helicopter, it had a bad feeling to it." Henson added.  
  
Tseng looked back over his shoulder, where he could see Hojo and Gast standing near it He then looked back. "Its face, its expression looked like the face of something that spent its time hurting small animals; I get that feeling that from wherever it came from, it reveled in causing pain and committing acts of torture." Tseng finished.  
  
"The thing is horrible. I don't care what sort of things might be socially acceptable on whatever hellish little planet or dark, bleak galaxy that it came from. I look at that thing and see nothing but evil." Dyne announced grimly.  
  
"I think that I will see that thing in my dreams now, I'm afraid that I wont ever be able to shake it from my thoughts, not for a long time." Tseng remarked.  
  
"I don't give a damn about the humanoid face, it's the other one that bothers me, the one with no eyes and the sharp teeth, it looks like it's screaming." Quade stated to the group.  
  
"But what was it screaming about?" Asked Dyne, quietly, with a look of uneasiness on his face.  
  
"Don't say it." Mideal interrupted. "We've dwelled on this thing for far too long as it is. I don't want to have anyone loosing sleep over this." He added.  
  
"Perhaps we can't judge it on the grounds of its expressions, it's from another galaxy. Who knows what expressions might mean on its planet, it might actually be happy." Replied Hozloff.  
  
"If it was happy, then it found happiness in the deaths of the Wutai researchers." Cid added.  
  
"So you think that the creature had something do with the accident?" Asked Henson.  
  
"It could be possible that it had something to do with what happened to the men at the camp."  
  
"Perhaps fighting that thing was what drove the two survivors mad." Hozloff suggested.  
  
"It has a name."  
  
The group turned around to see Hojo looking at them, they were rather surprised to hear him speak after remaining silent for so long. "I'm ready to begin the autopsy, and it has a name." He repeated. "I'm going to call it 'Jenova'." He added with a wicked smile.  
  
Some of the other men smiled at the joke, and some frowned.  
  
"I hadn't though of that." Hozloff remarked.  
  
Hojo looked at the group. "Well, after all, she did fall from the sky." He replied. "So, I'm calling her Jenova." He added.  
  
"Nice sense of humor, Hojo, but 'she' is no 'Fallen Angel'." Cid replied.  
  
Hojo grinned as he pulled on a pair of rubber gloves. "That depends entirely on your definition of an Angel." He replied as he turned around to look down at his "Angel". The Biologist's statement was certainly a bit unnerving and he seldom made jokes, so it was uncertain whether he was joking or being serious.  
  
At this point, Coats walked in. "Hey chief." He called over to Hozloff.  
  
The white-haired Commander turned to look at the Black man with the shaved head and dark sunglasses. "Yeah, Coats?" Asked the man.  
  
Coats cleared his throat. "Well, I've been trying to reach somebody since that damned helicopter landed here."  
  
"What are you getting at?" Hozloff asked.  
  
"No one will answer." He replied.  
  
Hozloff straightened up from his position against the counter. "What do you mean, Coats, can't you get anyone?" He exclaimed.  
  
"Nothing!" Coats replied.  
  
"Damnit, what about Icicle Inn?" Hozloff exclaimed in frustration.. Coats rubbed his temples and took off his glasses. "Boss, I've heard nothing, I haven't heard shit from anyone. I doubt it if anyone's talked to anybody on this entire continent. And you think I can just call someone up on a whim?" He exclaimed, holding his hands out.  
  
Hozloff sighed. "Alright, alright, just keep trying." He said as he turned back to the others.  
  
Cid glanced down at the husky as it walked into the room and looked at them quietly. He quickly looked back up at the two biologists in the room  
  
Hojo took up his scalpel and walked over to the side of the creature. "Turn on the recorder, Gast." He instructed his assistant.  
  
Gast nodded and reached over and turned on the audio recorder.  
  
Hojo began by making an incision along the left side of the stomach. The razor-sharp blade cut cleanly through the soft, orange flesh.  
  
The group watched as he stuck his hands into the opening. Hojo actually looked somewhat surprised. "Well, what we have here, appears to be normal, a normal set of human organs; heart, kidneys, liver, stomach, intestines." He spoke as he fingered the dark, sticky organs and their protective tissue. "I'm not sure if I should dissect the other creatures right now, though I believe that it would be best to wait." He added.  
  
He set the organs down gently into pans. Hojo turned to the group and took off his glasses. "A little bit of heaven and a little bit of hell."  
  
***  
  
~End of Chapter 04~  
  
Well, I hoped that you enjoyed this chapter. Anyway, I have a few paintings of the Jenova Monster. And if you could drop me a review and let me know if you'd like to see the picture, then I can e-mail it to you. (Just be sure to send me your complete e-mail address)  
  
-Bojack  
  
(The Pictures are both digital photos of watercolor painting and have good resolution) 


	6. Chapter 05

Chapter 05

After the autopsy on the alien corpse, the men tried to get back to their regular routines. The whole idea of something as bizarre as that in the camp left many of the men with a bad feeling...

Hojo and Gast disappeared to go think more about the implications of the find they had made that day. This was their usual way; they had things to think about and mysteries to unravel at the moment, so they had separated themselves from the rest of the team that night.

Cid had decided to start staying in the main camp for a while, at least until the encroaching storm cleared up. So, he had moved some things and some clothes of his and taken up in one of the extra rooms that were not being used for storing research equipment.

.o.o.o.

Reno walked into the room that he shared with Tseng.

The chief mechanic was there in the room, lying on his bed in his long underwear, watching television. Reno looked up at the screen and saw that he had one of the old tapes playing in the VCR. Reno watched it for a moment.

There was a blond woman on stage; she was standing next a small black cat that was sitting on top of a giant stuffed Moogle. The cat was wearing a little crown and a small red cape. It spoke up to the woman. "Okay, now, Linda, you can pick from Door #1, Door #2, and Door #3." He said in a row as he motioned to the three large doors. "Anna's given you good advice so far, so it would be pretty reasonable that you listen to her one more time." Suggested the little cat.

Reno frowned as he watched the episode play out. He recognized the show: 'Mystery Doors, with Cait Sith'. He stepped forward. "I've seen this one before," He remarked. "I know how it ends." He continued as he pressed a button on the player and ejected the tape. He retrieved another one and inserted the video, and then pressed play. The screen quickly flickered to life.

The red-haired mechanic sighed and sat back down on his bed as the dirty movie started playing. After a moment, he lit the joint he was holding. He took a long drag off of it and let the sweet smoke stay in his mouth for a few moments before he allowed it to begin oozing back out.

Reno looked over to his left and saw that Tseng was holding his arm out, his hand was open. The red-head took another drag off of the joint and handed it to his friend.

Tseng accepted the offering and took a nice drag off of it, too. He looked back up at the screen as it emitted a warm glow into the room, as it was the only source of light for the two men.

.o.o.o.

Cid looked across the chess board at Rude as the man prepared to execute his next move. The pilot shifted in his seat as he waited for the move to come...

Dyne took a drag off of his cigarette as looked at his hand of cards. He was playing a game of poker with Hozloff and Wedge.

Gast and Reeve were sitting down in black, leather-bound office chairs that were back up against the wall, on the right side of the room. The two of them were reading thick technical booklets on various science fields.

Rude moved his rook across the board. "Check." He announced.

Cid suddenly perked up and quickly had to get out of the 'line of fire'. "Damnit!" He exclaimed.

No one noticed as the husky walked into the room...

Biggs turned on the jukebox and flipped through the selections. He eventually decided on playing Sephiroth's "One Winged Angel".

Over at the pool table, Zangan was busy playing a game by himself.

Everything continued to go on with its comfortable silence as the men enjoyed the break from the usual drudgery of their day-to-day routines.

Dyne is till playing cards with his two friends when a jolt shot up through his body as something casually brushed up against his leg.

Everyone stopped what they were doing when their colleague suddenly jumped and called out loudly in surprise. Dyne looked around in embarrassment, having not yet completely recovered from being shot yesterday, he was still rather tense. "Ahh, Damnit!" Dyne exclaimed as the dog quickly emerged from under the table and walked away.

The meteorologist turned around to face the sturdy looking dog-handler across the room. "Damnit Zangan," He yelled. "Would you put this mutt with the others!" He exclaimed through gritted teeth.

The man looked up at him, but made no reply at first. "Yeah, okay." He finally replied in his usual deep monotone voice. He casually walked over to the dog and gently took hold of it by the collar and led it out of the lounge.

.o.o.o.

Zangan opened the door and stepped into the dimly lit hallway. He cast a brief look down the hall before softly stepping foot into the dark corridor. He walked along at an even pace, past the oil drums stacked up against the wall, the dog walking along with him, remaining at his side.

The tall man stopped as he passed by a sign that had the words "Dog Town" Written on it. The sigh was hung above the door to the kennel. He quickly undid the latch and opened the door. Both the man and the husky looked into the cage, which contained seven other sleeping dogs.

"Well, go on in." Zangan spoke to the dog, gently coaxing it into the kennel.

The husky slowly walked inside and lay down on all fours between the other dogs, which were lying down comfortably against the walls on either say, on the straw covered floor.

Zangan smiled one last time and closed the door to the kennel. He walked away to leave the animals to themselves.

None of the dogs really paid much attention to the new comer; they were busy trying to sleep.

The lead dog, Hogan was lying near the front left corner of the pen with one of the female dogs, Mika, snuggled up against him. Hunk and Valley, two brothers from the same litter were lying across from each other in the back in opposite corners, concealed within the shadows.

The other, older female dog, Nana, was lying by herself. One of the younger male dogs, Shackelton, was laying a few feet away from her. The last dog, Fritz, was lying across from her, asleep.

.o.o.o.

Hozloff walked into the radio room and looked down at Coats, he frowned when he saw that the operator was asleep, his face was laid across an open magazine and his mouth hung open slightly, emitting a quite sound as he slept.

Hozloff listened to sound of gentle snoring, and then leaned over him and reached over, grasping one of the knobs on the radio controls and turned it.

Coats jumped to alert with a scream, like the devil himself was at his heals. He frantically looked about, trying to get his bearings as he had been violently torn from his sleep. Finally, in an aggravated voice, he spoke. "Um... er... what do you want?!" He exclaimed.

The Commander's expression soured. "Damnit, Coats, get off your ass and find someone." He instructed him. "I'm sick and tired of arguing with you about this, we need help up here." He explained.

"Hozloff," He began. "We're in the middle of nowhere, next to nothing!" He replied. "I doubt if anyone talked to anyone else on this entire continent!" He added, indignantly.

Hozloff looked him the eyes and fixed him with a glare. "Keep trying, Coats, keep trying!" He replied and walked out of the room.

.o.o.o.

Hours later, after most of the team had gone to bed; the sound of barking could be heard, coming from the Kennel. Several of the man had started yelling at Zangan to go see what the hell was upsetting the dogs so much.

After a few moments, he got out of bed and pulled a pair of pants up over his long underwear and decided to just slip on a parka instead of his shirt and vest. He crammed his hat over his long white hair and left the room.

Zangan walked down the hall towards "Dog Town". The sound of whimpering and barking were becoming increasingly louder as he drew ever closer to the Kennel.

He reached out and unhooked the latch to open the door. One of the dogs went flying out at him and knocked him down. The sturdy man was caught off guard and fell to the floor roughly, just in time for another one of the dogs to lunge past him. Somewhat dazed, he looked over his shoulder as the dogs ran off through the open door at the end of the hall, escaping into the main complex.

Curiosity soon got the better of him as he heard a strange slapping sound coming from close to the kennel door. He looked down at his feat and instantly recoiled when something fell across his work boots. Several sinuous tentacles lashed out at his feet and he could hear terrible noises coming from within the shadows. A chill ran through him as he shook his feet violently to remove the strange thing from him. He kicked the door shut and locked it, he stumbled up onto his feet and ran for help.

.o.o.o.

Cid stepped out of the room he was staying in and walked down towards the kitchen.

The blond-haired man walked into the large kitchen to grab a bear from the fridge. He looked over and noticed Biggs sitting next to his boom box. The cook was quietly singing the lines of the song to himself.

"Hey, Biggs." Cid replied as he reached into the large refrigerator, quickly producing a bear in one hand as he closed the fridge with the other.

Biggs leisurely turned around and looked at him, he smiled. "Hey, Cid, what's swingin'?" He asked calmly.

Cid shrugged. "Nothing really, I'm just getting something to drink." He replied.

At this point, Henson stepped in and looked at Cid. He didn't respond right away... "Oh, Cid, you're up, too?" He asked after a lingering period of silence.

Before Cid could reply, the sound of terrible barking and howling could be heard from off in the kennel. Biggs shot up out of his seat and looked at the other two men in confusion.

Without hesitation, the pilot ran over to the fire alarm in the kitchen and pulled down the handle. Instantly, the complex was filled with the grating sound of the alarm going off and echoing down through the halls.

.o.o.o.

Cid came flying into the hall with the two others behind him. He looked towards the end of the hall. "What the hell is happening?!" He exclaimed as he turned to the two men behind him.

Cid took off down the hall, towards the kennel, in hurry.

By now, everyone had been brought to alert by the glaring cacophony of the fire alarm system. The entire facility was filled with irate and confused men.

Everyone began stumbling out of their rooms in confusion. Many of them were still trying to get dressed.

Mideal stumbled around awkwardly as he tried to get his pants on. "What the hell is going on?!" He exclaimed as he struggled with the unruly buckle of his jeans.

Other men were also trying to get dressed in a hurry. Most of them ended up just wearing pants and heavy coats over their long underwear and pajamas.

.o.o.o.

Zangan stood by the door, clutching the fire axe in his hands and waiting for the others to arrive. Just then, the door swung open and Cid and Hozloff walked in, others were streaming in behind them. Cid was carrying the shotgun he had with him from the other day.

Zangan took a step towards the pilot. "Cid, there's something in there, and it's pissed. I don't know what it is though." He quickly announced to the Cid and the other men. Cid and Hozloff stepped forward and then led them down the hallway towards the kennel. There was a terrible racket coming from the darkened cage.

It wasn't long at all when the men had reached "Dog Town" and Cid walked up to the door and pulled it open. He clicked on his flashlight and shined it into the room.

Slowly, the spotlight moved forwards, across the floor until it came to something quit unbearable. Others were now shining lights into the kennel, resulting a chilling silence that fell upon the assembled group as they looked on.

Some sort of thing was situated in the middle of the kennel. Whatever it was now, it was no longer the husky that had come to their camp. Several of the men recoiled back and covered their mouths when the saw the thing before them.

Cid stepped back as he looked at the creature. It now appeared to be some disgusting pile of bloodied flesh and disjointed limbs. The monster's fur was now gone and the surface of the fleshy exterior had a sickening gloss to it. Dozens of sensuous tentacles were slithering across the floor and spider-like legs had sprouted out of the thing's back and were moving about uneasily. The furless, mutant dog-head was attached to the end of a long, distended neck. The slanted, jagged jaw opened and emitted a horrible, hellish howl that sent chills through everyone there. It's glazed, back eyes sat in the sockets motionless as it writhed about.

Everyone watched as Cid shined the flashlight around the kennel, revealing yet more horrors. One of the dogs was on its side and its bloody, torn body squirmed in pain as it was engulfed in a slew of fleshy blood-red tentacles, the beast emitted a weak, pathetic whimper as it was smothered under the grip of the monster's numerous writhing appendages.

Another one of the dogs was being held up against the wall and being cruelly strangled by the attacker.

By this point, Zangan was behind him and looking into the kennel frantically. Hozloff was looking through the wire at the monster with a sickening expression on his face.

Cid shakily turned to Dyne. "Go get Tseng, make him bring the flamethrower... quick, go!" He shouted and then turned back to the monster. He pumped the shotgun and aimed it at the monster.

Hozloff stuck the barrel of revolver through the wire links and pulled back the hammer...

The two men began unloading shotgun shell blasts and solid lead rounds into the monster, firing shot after shot at it. As the blast continued to bombard the monster, jets of thick green and black fluids sprayed and gushed out from the various wounds it was receiving from the two men. A shotgun blast hit the abdomen of the dog that was being strangled; the act was the mixed result of the confusion and pity running through Cid's mind.

In the chaos, Zangan lunged at the blond pilot and screamed out, grasping his collar. The men right behind him had to pull him off of the man.

"Damnit, Cid!" He yelled as the men held onto his arms. An intense glare flashed between their eyes as they looked straight at one another.

At that moment, the monster suddenly sprouted massive, sinuous arms from its side and the two limbs reached up for the ceiling beams above it.

Tseng came running into the hall from the door on the other end of the hall; Wedge and Reno came running behind him with fire extinguishers in hand.

Cid turned to the dark-hair man and yelled at him. "Hey, get over here!"

The mechanic ran into the kennel just in time to see a hideous creature pull itself into the rafters above the kennel. He looked up at the amorphous beast above him. Suddenly, its twisted stomach split open and a massive flower-shaped claw extended out and down towards him.

Tseng's jaw dropped as he stepped back and squeezed on the trigger of the flame thrower in his hand. Quickly, the fuel flowed out and created an intense stream of pure fire, which set the monstrosity ablaze.

Tseng stepped back to where the others were as the burning body writhed in agony and eventually fell down onto the ground.

The assembly waited a moment as the hideous corpse burned, eventually parting to let Reno and Wedge and a few other men put out the fires in the room...

Everyone was quiet as the silence pervaded the scene. Cid fell back against the wall and closed his eyes while Hozloff had to step back to try and regain his composure.

Zangan silently left the hall...

Kennings had to run outside and vomit...

Gast looked as if he was about to have a nervous breakdown, and Hojo was still crouched down and starring- through the chain links- at the burnt, bloodied corpse without saying a word. His long black hair hung down his head messily, instead of being pulled back into its usual ponytail.

Mideal had to stop his hands from shaking as he stared at the dead monstrosity in the kennel.

Dyne, to his amazement, found himself praying for the first time in years...

Cid began to wonder why he had taken this job in the first place.

So, now it seemed that silence was the rule of the night, and no one dared speak now... not after what had just happened.

They had seen something out of the very depths of hell itself, a vile apparition that tugged on the nerves of every nightmare that had been known since the days that men first dared dream... What it possible that they had truly dipped into hell itself?

Silence... Just silence...

.o.o.o.

End of Chapter 5


End file.
